Note that there a wide variety of netbooks marketed under the Aspire One line, with a variety of hardware.

+

+

==What doesn't yet work (and workarounds)==

+

+

=== F16 ===

+

* AO722

+

** Hangs on startup (also affects windows sometimes)

+

*** Make "Network Boot : Atheros Boot Agent" first in Boot priority order in BIOS

+

** Wireless broadcom4313 doesn't work.

+

*** Download 3 rpms: kmod-wl, kmod-wl-3.1.0-7, and broadcom-wl from any computer with net access from any fedora repository, install them and restart. (Eg: [[http://mirror.liberty.edu/pub/rpmfusion/nonfree/fedora/releases/16/Everything/i386/os/]], replace i386 with x86_64 as required). More details here: http://forums.fedoraforum.org/showthread.php?t=273192

** If you don't show the battery status to A0751h, add this line '''cat /proc/acpi/battery/BAT1/state''' in the file /etc/rc.local

+

** D250: Wireless may get knocked out with some software versions, but if you use wired Internet to update to kernel-2.6.35.9-64.fc14.i686 and kmod-wl-5.60.48.36-2.fc14.3.i686 (and dependencies) from RPM Fusion, wireless will work again for you.

+

* A110 (8GB):

+

** everything works (but I haven't tried suspend/hibernate)

+

* AOD255

+

** Install works and appears to detect most hardware. Have encountered issues with the microphone built into the screen, attaching an external microphone works. Webcam, graphics, wireless all work without further modification.

+

** Found that third party application Google Talk attempts to use Open GL extensions which are not supported by the graphics card, or at least the current drivers, of this netbook and crashes as a result. Running `echo "LIBGL_ALWAYS_SOFTWARE=1" > /opt/google/talkplugin/envvars` as root tells Google Talk to use software rendering to avoid this for now but results in a performance hit.

** If you don't show the battery status to A0751h, add this line '''cat /proc/acpi/battery/BAT1/state''' in the file /etc/rc.local

+

* A110 (8GB):

+

** Everything works except suspend.

=== F12 ===

=== F12 ===

−

* Unknown

+

+

(Tested with a D250 and partially with AO751h.)

+

+

* If using a Live .iso, you must supply '''ssb.blacklist=1''' as a boot parameter to avoid a hang. (Hit any key to avoid automatic boot, then Tab from the menu to change boot options. When you see the command line, type a space followed by the new parameter.) When rebooting after the initial installation, you will need to add the same parameter to the boot options from the Grub menu. If you are not presented with this menu automatically, try hitting Esc repeatedly during startup.

+

* Depending on the exact hardware, your hard-wired network interface might not be detected. If this is the case, you cannot easily perform a network installation using a netinst.iso or boot.iso, because neither the hard-wired nor wireless network devices will be available. Use the Live or DVD install method, or create a driver disk.

+

* If you are using the full DVD, multi-CD, or netinst.iso install methods, you will need to supply either '''ssb.blacklist=1''' or '''noprobe''' as a boot option in order to avoid a hang.

+

* After installation (or during installation, if you have network access) enable [http://rpmfusion.org/Configuration RPM Fusion] repositories and install the '''kmod-wl''' driver. After rebooting, this will automatically add the ssb module to the blacklist, and also give you working wireless. If you are transferring files on removable media because you have no working network, be sure to also copy broadcom-wl, which is a required dependency. After these RPMs are installed, you will no longer need to add parameters at boot time.

+

*If you don't show the battery status, add this line '''cat /proc/acpi/battery/BAT1/state''' in the file /etc/rc.local (AO751h).

Cannot boot F13 DVD via a working usb CD/DVD drive. Worked well with the Live CD

+

+

Aspire One Model: ZG5

+

+

Error: isolinux: disk error 80, AX = 4226, drive 90

==Miscellaneous setup==

==Miscellaneous setup==

===Card Reader===

===Card Reader===

−

Both card readers work out of the box (if not, see: [[#Obsolete Instructions]])

+

Both card readers work out of the box (if not, see: [[#Obsolete Instructions]]). In Fedora 12, the multi-card reader does work with Memory Sticks (at least in the AAO 110L model).

The "special" card reader on the left for adding storage is seen as just another plain card reader.

The "special" card reader on the left for adding storage is seen as just another plain card reader.

Use LVM if you want to extend storage space from the internal HDD/SSD, but don't try to suspend while using the card reader on the left as corruptions may result.

Use LVM if you want to extend storage space from the internal HDD/SSD, but don't try to suspend while using the card reader on the left as corruptions may result.

−

Note that with the reader on the right won't work with Memory Sticks, but no one uses them so it's not a big problem.

+

Note that with some models the reader on the right won't work with Memory Sticks.

+

+

===Touchpad===

+

Tap-to-click is disabled by default. If using GNOME, you can enable it by choosing System > Preferences > Mouse > Enable Tapping. For every other desktop (XFCE, LXDE, fluxbox, KDE, etc), or to have tap2click available at the login manager (gdm), use the following method to enable it:

−

===Wireless Activity LED===

+

In '''F13''': To enable tap-to-click, paste the following to '''/etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/50-synaptics.conf'''; for a full list of touchpad config options, see: '''man synaptics'''.

−

LEDs are functioning again as of the 2.6.30+ kernel updates.

−

Note: madwifi is no longer needed, and is no longer packaged by rpmfusion in any case.

+

<pre>

+

Section "InputClass"

+

Identifier "touchpad catchall"

+

MatchIsTouchpad "on"

+

Option "TapButton1" "1"

+

EndSection

+

</pre>

−

===Touchpad===

+

Beginning with F13, X uses udev instead of HAL for [[input device configuration]]. User customizations go to /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/*.conf and system defaults are found in /usr/share/X11/xorg.conf.d/*conf

−

Tap-to-click is disabled by default. If using GNOME, you can enable it by choosing System > Preferences > Mouse > Enable Tapping. For every other desktop (XFCE, LXDE, fluxbox, KDE, etc), or to have tap2click available at the login manager, use the following method to enable it:

In '''F12''': To enable tap-to-click, paste the following to '''/etc/hal/fdi/policy/10-synaptics.fdi'''

In '''F12''': To enable tap-to-click, paste the following to '''/etc/hal/fdi/policy/10-synaptics.fdi'''

Line 103:

Line 178:

==Notes on performance==

==Notes on performance==

If you have the 8 GB SSD/512MB RAM version, the flash performance may not be so good. Linux tries to swap often, and the SSD write speed is too slow (~ 4MB to 7.8MB/sec) to do much swapping. Use a lighter desktop like XFCE or add more RAM (which is not easy; you have to fully disassemble the Aspire One losing the warranty).

If you have the 8 GB SSD/512MB RAM version, the flash performance may not be so good. Linux tries to swap often, and the SSD write speed is too slow (~ 4MB to 7.8MB/sec) to do much swapping. Use a lighter desktop like XFCE or add more RAM (which is not easy; you have to fully disassemble the Aspire One losing the warranty).

+

+

The "cheapest" way to get a somewhat sensible storage performance has been for me to add 2 8GB class 6 SDHC cards, and use LVM to create a stripped root volume. 2 benefits: 8GB => 24GB and read/write performance almost doubles, at least in shouting distance to average SATA discs.

If you have upgraded the RAM (1.5GB max) or you don't have a heavy load, it may help to disable swap, as well as to move '''/tmp''', '''/var/tmp''', '''/var/log''', and '''/var/cache/yum''' off of the flash and onto tmpfs ramdisk. It may also help to use a journal-less ext2 VS ext3, and to include the "noatime,nodiratime" mount options in /etc/fstab to limit unnecessary writes.

If you have upgraded the RAM (1.5GB max) or you don't have a heavy load, it may help to disable swap, as well as to move '''/tmp''', '''/var/tmp''', '''/var/log''', and '''/var/cache/yum''' off of the flash and onto tmpfs ramdisk. It may also help to use a journal-less ext2 VS ext3, and to include the "noatime,nodiratime" mount options in /etc/fstab to limit unnecessary writes.

Line 108:

Line 187:

Example /etc/fstab entries:

Example /etc/fstab entries:

<pre>

<pre>

−

/dev/sda2 / ext2 defaults,noatime,nodiratime 1 1

+

/dev/sda2 / ext2 defaults,noatime 1 1

tmp /tmp tmpfs defaults 0 0

tmp /tmp tmpfs defaults 0 0

vartmp /var/tmp tmpfs defaults 0 0

vartmp /var/tmp tmpfs defaults 0 0

Line 119:

Line 198:

Misc:

Misc:

−

* On SSD it is tremendously helpful to disable your browsers' disk cache.

* Disabling SELinux (/etc/sysconfig/selinux) can buy you a small (~7%) amount of performance, if security isn't a concern. It also decreases boot time by a few seconds.

* Disabling SELinux (/etc/sysconfig/selinux) can buy you a small (~7%) amount of performance, if security isn't a concern. It also decreases boot time by a few seconds.

−

* Disabling unnecessary services can almost cut the bootup time in half (18 seconds is doable in F11, as reported by bootchartd). Depending on your requirements for a netbook, it is safe to disable at least: sendmail, atd, nfs*, rpc*, portreserve, live*, avahi-daemon, cups, gpm, ip6tables, bluetooth, lvm2-monitor, mdmonitor, pcscd, and abrtd

+

* Disabling unnecessary services can almost cut the bootup time in half (18 seconds is doable in F12, as reported by bootchartd). Depending on your requirements for a netbook, it is safe to disable at least: sendmail, atd, nfs*, rpc*, portreserve, live*, avahi-daemon, cups, gpm, ip6tables, bluetooth, lvm2-monitor, mdmonitor, pcscd, and abrtd

suspend to ram (by closing lid) usually works only once or twice, might be related to 554177

D250, A150, AO751h ...:

AO751h-52Bk all works ok and graphic card(must enable RPMFusion yum install xorg-x11-drv-psb or from system->administration->add/Remove Software find from xorg-x11-drv-psb )

If you don't show the battery status to A0751h, add this line cat /proc/acpi/battery/BAT1/state in the file /etc/rc.local

D250: Wireless may get knocked out with some software versions, but if you use wired Internet to update to kernel-2.6.35.9-64.fc14.i686 and kmod-wl-5.60.48.36-2.fc14.3.i686 (and dependencies) from RPM Fusion, wireless will work again for you.

A110 (8GB):

everything works (but I haven't tried suspend/hibernate)

AOD255

Install works and appears to detect most hardware. Have encountered issues with the microphone built into the screen, attaching an external microphone works. Webcam, graphics, wireless all work without further modification.

Found that third party application Google Talk attempts to use Open GL extensions which are not supported by the graphics card, or at least the current drivers, of this netbook and crashes as a result. Running `echo "LIBGL_ALWAYS_SOFTWARE=1" > /opt/google/talkplugin/envvars` as root tells Google Talk to use software rendering to avoid this for now but results in a performance hit.

F13

AO751h-52Bk all works ok and graphic card(must enable RPMFusion yum install xorg-x11-drv-psb or from system->administration->add/Remove Software find from xorg-x11-drv-psb )

If you don't show the battery status to A0751h, add this line cat /proc/acpi/battery/BAT1/state in the file /etc/rc.local

A110 (8GB):

Everything works except suspend.

F12

(Tested with a D250 and partially with AO751h.)

If using a Live .iso, you must supply ssb.blacklist=1 as a boot parameter to avoid a hang. (Hit any key to avoid automatic boot, then Tab from the menu to change boot options. When you see the command line, type a space followed by the new parameter.) When rebooting after the initial installation, you will need to add the same parameter to the boot options from the Grub menu. If you are not presented with this menu automatically, try hitting Esc repeatedly during startup.

Depending on the exact hardware, your hard-wired network interface might not be detected. If this is the case, you cannot easily perform a network installation using a netinst.iso or boot.iso, because neither the hard-wired nor wireless network devices will be available. Use the Live or DVD install method, or create a driver disk.

If you are using the full DVD, multi-CD, or netinst.iso install methods, you will need to supply either ssb.blacklist=1 or noprobe as a boot option in order to avoid a hang.

After installation (or during installation, if you have network access) enable RPM Fusion repositories and install the kmod-wl driver. After rebooting, this will automatically add the ssb module to the blacklist, and also give you working wireless. If you are transferring files on removable media because you have no working network, be sure to also copy broadcom-wl, which is a required dependency. After these RPMs are installed, you will no longer need to add parameters at boot time.

If you don't show the battery status, add this line cat /proc/acpi/battery/BAT1/state in the file /etc/rc.local (AO751h).

Installation DVD

Cannot boot F13 DVD via a working usb CD/DVD drive. Worked well with the Live CD

Aspire One Model: ZG5

Error: isolinux: disk error 80, AX = 4226, drive 90

Miscellaneous setup

Card Reader

Both card readers work out of the box (if not, see: #Obsolete Instructions). In Fedora 12, the multi-card reader does work with Memory Sticks (at least in the AAO 110L model).

The "special" card reader on the left for adding storage is seen as just another plain card reader.
Use LVM if you want to extend storage space from the internal HDD/SSD, but don't try to suspend while using the card reader on the left as corruptions may result.
Note that with some models the reader on the right won't work with Memory Sticks.

Touchpad

Tap-to-click is disabled by default. If using GNOME, you can enable it by choosing System > Preferences > Mouse > Enable Tapping. For every other desktop (XFCE, LXDE, fluxbox, KDE, etc), or to have tap2click available at the login manager (gdm), use the following method to enable it:

In F13: To enable tap-to-click, paste the following to /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/50-synaptics.conf; for a full list of touchpad config options, see: man synaptics.

Speakers do not auto-mute when using headphones

In F11, add the following line to /etc/modprobe.d/aceraspirefix.conf and then reboot.

options snd-hda-intel model=acer-aspire

Built-in Camera

Works out of the box. Use the cheese app which is installed by default to test. Other v4l2 webcam-using apps include: vlc, ekiga, ucview, camE, xawtv, zoneminder, and motion.

Notes on performance

If you have the 8 GB SSD/512MB RAM version, the flash performance may not be so good. Linux tries to swap often, and the SSD write speed is too slow (~ 4MB to 7.8MB/sec) to do much swapping. Use a lighter desktop like XFCE or add more RAM (which is not easy; you have to fully disassemble the Aspire One losing the warranty).

The "cheapest" way to get a somewhat sensible storage performance has been for me to add 2 8GB class 6 SDHC cards, and use LVM to create a stripped root volume. 2 benefits: 8GB => 24GB and read/write performance almost doubles, at least in shouting distance to average SATA discs.

If you have upgraded the RAM (1.5GB max) or you don't have a heavy load, it may help to disable swap, as well as to move /tmp, /var/tmp, /var/log, and /var/cache/yum off of the flash and onto tmpfs ramdisk. It may also help to use a journal-less ext2 VS ext3, and to include the "noatime,nodiratime" mount options in /etc/fstab to limit unnecessary writes.

Note: if installing F11 or F12 from liveusb, your root '/' filesystem will always be ext4 (f10 and previous was ext3). The benefits of ext2 is debatable, as the tiny performance increase is more than offset by long fsck's after unclean shutdowns.

If you really want to increase performance, use a fast SDHC memory card in the left reader, and use it for /home, /var and /usr.

Misc:

On SSD it is tremendously helpful to disable your web browsers' disk cache.

Disabling SELinux (/etc/sysconfig/selinux) can buy you a small (~7%) amount of performance, if security isn't a concern. It also decreases boot time by a few seconds.

Disabling unnecessary services can almost cut the bootup time in half (18 seconds is doable in F12, as reported by bootchartd). Depending on your requirements for a netbook, it is safe to disable at least: sendmail, atd, nfs*, rpc*, portreserve, live*, avahi-daemon, cups, gpm, ip6tables, bluetooth, lvm2-monitor, mdmonitor, pcscd, and abrtd

xorg.conf

A sample xorg.conf that provides a larger virtual screen - also configures my 19" VGA screen when connected...adjust the Screen and Display sections for whatever display you have connected to your VGA port

NOTE: this seems to require xserver 1.6 and xrandr 1.3 which are Fedora 11 and this may not work in earlier versions of Fedora.